Automatic spray painting machine



R. B, WAY ETAL 2,890,678

AUTOMATIC SPRAY PAINT ING MACHINE June 16, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet,v l

Filed Feb. 4. 1954 FIN' O.

FIG. 2A

FIG. 2

Q INVENTORS l ROBERT 5. w/w

\m cm. 0. HERSEY FIG-J6 6 ATTORNEY June 16, 3 W ETAL AUTOMATIC SPRAY PAINTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4. 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 16, 1959 r m AL 2,890,678

'- AUTOMATIC SPRAY PAINTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4. 1954 v 4 Sheets-Sheet s Ju ne 16, 19 59 R: B. WAY EI'AL AUTOMATIC SPRAY PAINTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4. 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

United States I Patent O AUTOMATIC SPRAY PAINTING MACHDNE Robert B. Way and Carl D. Hersey, Erie, Pa.

Application February 4, 1954, Serial No. 408,185

8 Claims. (Cl. 118301) This invention relates to painting equipment and more particularly to paint machines wherein an article of manufacture may be mounted on a support and paint sprayed uniformly over predetermined portions of the article while other parts of the article are masked and protected from being coated by the paint.

Another painting machine of the general character of the present machine is disclosed in our co-pending application, Serial No. 346,125, which issued as Patent No. 2,725,035 on November 29, 1955.

In the present application, we disclose a painting machine which is suitable for painting elongated objects where the paint is to be deposited on a plurality of sides of the object during the painting operation. In carrying out this invention, we provide a support to carry the article to be painted and to rotate the article during the painting operation in order to give a uniform distribution of paint and, to further insure a uniform distribution of the paint, we provide a means for oscillating the paint guns during the painting operation. We hold the article being painted in position by means of an air actuated clamping device. Portions of the article which are desired to be painted a different color are protected from paint during the process of painting other areas by masks or stencils which are carried by laterally swinging arms supported on the machine. We provide a device which insures that the articles will each be brought to rest in a uniform position. Further, we provide means to vary the speed with which the article is rotated during the painting operation and a means to vary the time cycle during which the painting operation is carried out and a means to vary the intensity of the paint spray.

In carrying out our invention, an object thereof is to provide a machine to accomplish the above and other features and more specifically to provide a painting machine wherein the article of manufacture being painted is'. rotated continuously during the painting operation in matic painting machine wherein the article being painted is rotated and the paint gun's'are oscillated simultaneously with the rotation of the article.

A further object of our invention is to provide a novel mask supporting device in an automatic painting machine.

A further object of our invention is to provide a novel work supporting and mask or stencil carrying device according to our invention.

Another object of our invention is to provide a painting machine which will hold a mask to the article by pressure therein while painting takes place to insure that .there is no paint leakage under the mask onto the masked areas of the article.

L Another object of the invention is to rotatably support an article being painted and to provide a means to urge a mask into sealing engagement with the article while it is being painted. I

A still further object of our invention is to provide an automatic painting machine wherein the article being painted is rotated during the painting operation and brought to rest at a predetermined position. I

Another object of our invention is to provide an automatic painting machine wherein paint is automatically de-- posited on the work in a uniform manner and wherein a' unique ventilation system is provided therewith.

A further object of this invention is to provide a painting machine which is simple in construction, economical in manufacture, and etficient and practical in operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of an automatic painting machine of Fig. 1 of the supporting means for the paint guns according to our invention;

Fig. 2A is a view of the cover removed from the machine;

' Fig. 3 is a side view of our automatic painting machine;

Fig. 4 is a detailed view showing the mounting means for the paint guns in our novel paint machine;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the device shown in Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line 6-6.of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detailed view of the arm and part means for holding the work support in line 77 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along line 8- Figs. 10, 11, and 12 are transverse cross sectional views of valves and control devices used in the operation machine;

Fig. 13 is a view of an article clamping device;

of our Figs. 14 and 15 are views of other forms of mask supports; and I Fig. 16-is a cross sectional view taken on line 16-16- ofFig. 13.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, we show an automatic painting machine 1 having a frame'2 made generally of vertically extending structural members.

3 held together by a table member 4 which is welded to the vertical members 3 at 5. A top member 6 is pref erably welded to the vertical members 3 at 7. The vertical members 3 may be tied together at the bottom byclosed in a casing 11 which is preferably made in the shape of a portion of a cylinder having one side cutaway to provide a flat surface 12. The casing 11 is preferably hinged at 13 to swing outward in order to permit more ready access to the working parts housed inside the machine 1.

The actuating valves, actuating motors, and similar; equipment are generally housed below the table 4. The work supporting mandrel 15 which carries the support loading position taken on through shown in Fig. 13 for the article being painted is driven by a motor mounted below the table 4. The article being painted is held in clamped position on the mandrel 15 by the upper mandrel 16 freely rotatable and the mandrel 16 is reciprocated axially by air cylinder 113 actuated by air pressure. The mandrel 16 forces the clamping member on the article supported on'the mandrel 15. The motor 104 drives the pulley 16b through belt 16a which is attached to the mandrel 15 and it thereby rotates the mandrel carrying the article being painted. The pulley 16b has a pin 17 mounted thereon which rotates therewith. The rod 18 is pivoted to the vertically extending members 3 at 19 and has a spring 20 attached thereto at 21. The other end of the spring 20 is attached to the vertical members 3 at 22 and urges the rod 18 to the left as viewed in Fig. 5. An air cylinder 24 is pivotally supported on the vertical members 3 at 25 and has 'a piston rod 26 pivotally connected to the rod 18 at 27.

During operation of the machine, the rod 18 is moved out of engagement with pin 17 to the position 18a when air pressure is impressed on the piston in the cylinder 24. The air pressure is released from cylinder 24 and, simultaneously, motor 104 is shut off. The spring 20 brings rod 18 to position 18b and by its engagement with the pin 17, urges the pulley 16b to the position shown in Fig. 5.

Paint guns mounted on the oscillatingrods 30 are oscillated through arm 31 which has a slot 31a therein. Cam 32 is received in slot 31:: and driven by the air motor 24a, The air motor 24a is mounted on the bracket 25a which is attached to the table 4 at 26a. The paint guns are of a conventional design which are supplied with clean air for atomizing and are supplied with paintfrom a conventional container. The guns operate when air is applied to their actuating mechanism.

In Fig. 9, we show a piping diagram for connecting the air supply to our novel paint machine. Air is supplied through main line 40 which passes to a pressure regulator 41 through the pipe 42 and through the fourway fitting 43. Air from the four-way fitting 43 passes through the pipe 44 to the pressure gauge 45 which registers the pressure present at the operation side of the pressure regulator 41. Atomizing air is supplied through the pipe 46 to the pressure valve 47 and then to the pipes 48 which supply atomizing air to the paint guns 48a which are connected to the ends 49 of the pipes 48. The flow of air to the paint guns 48a may be regulated by adjusting the knob 50 which is attached to the plunger 51 of the flow control pressure valve 47 and, thereby, controls the air which passes through the gate 53 thereof. The valve 47 is threaded at ends 54 and 55 for connection to the pipe-lines 46 and 48.

Air pressure from the four-way connection 43 also passes through the oiler 56 to the lines 57 and 58. From the line 58, it flows to the timer valve 59 and fromthe line 57, it flows through the air motor 24:: to drive the air motor 24a at a continuous speed to oscillate the paint guns 48a, the air being supplied to the air motor 24a through pipe 61 and exhausting therefrom through pipe 62. The speed of the air motor 24a is controlled by adjusting the throttle valve 63 by means of the handle 64 to control the flow of air from the motor 24w which exhausts into the atmosphere through muffler 65.

The timer valve 59 is shown in more detail in Fig. 12. The pipe 58 is connected to the threaded opening 68 of the timer valve 59. When the valve member 69 is in the open position, the air flows through the threaded opening 70 which is connected to the pipe 71. Pilot air for operating the timer valve 59 flows from the supply source through the pipe 57 through the pipe 72 through a foot valve 74 connected between connections 73 and 75 to the pipe 76 and to the space 77 above the actuating piston 78; that is, when the foot valve 74 is depressed to apply air pressurethroughpipe 76, piston -78 of the timer valve 59 is driven downward against the force of the spring 80 to move the valve 69 to the open position. When the foot valve 74 is closed, air will escape from the space 77 through pipe 82 but, since air pressure is no longer impressed through the pipe 76, air in the space 77 will react against the check valve 81 to close the check valve 81, thereby preventing any air from escaping from the space 77 through the line 76. Air will escape through pipe 82 through the throttling valve 83 which has a handle 84 connected thereto to throttle the air which escapes through aperture 85. The adjustment of the valve 83 which regulates the size of the aperture 85 regulates the amount of air escaping from the pipe 82 into the atmosphere and, thereby, controls the time in which the valve 69 is held open for any one actuation of foot valve 74. When the valve 69 is held in the open position by air pressure in the space 77 on the piston 78, air will flow through the pipe 71, through the pipe 86, through valve 90, pipe 91, pipe 87 to the branches 88 and to the various actuating connection on the paint guns connected to the fittings 89.

A quick exhaust valve 90 is connected in series between the pipe 86 and the pipe 91. The quick exhaust valve 90 is shown in better detail in Fig. 10 and is made up of the body 91a threaded at the opening in the ends 92 and 93 to connect the pipes 86 and 94, respectively. When air is applied to the pipe 86, it drives the check valve 95 against the force of the spring 96, thereby moving the check valve 95 from the seat 97 and allowing air to flow thereby from the opening 92 to the opening 93a and to the air cylinders on the paint guns connected to the fittings 89. As soon as the timer valve 59 closes, the air pressure in pipe 86 will be reduced to a point where the pressure of spring 96 on the check valve 95 overcomes the pressure thereon from the air from pipe 86. The check valve 95 will be forced to the closed position, thereby preventing any further flow of air from the pipe 86 to the paint gun controls and allowing the air which is under pressure against the paint gun cylinders to exhaust through the opening 93a and allow air to flow from the paint gun cylinders back through the orifice 93 into the pipe 94 through the muffler 99 into the ambient atmosphere, thus rapidly reducing the air pressure on the paint gun cylinder and stopping the paint gun sharply.

During the time that the valve member 69 of the timer valve 59 is in the open position, air also flows through the pipe 100 through the pipe 101 to the flow control valve 102 to the air cylinder to cause the piston thereof to force the arm or rod 18 out of engagement with pin 17 to prevent interference thereof with the rotation of the mandrel. When the flow of air through the pipe 100 is stopped by the closing of the timer valve 59, the air cylinder valve 24 is moved to a retracted position by spring 20 retracting the piston rod and pulling the rod 18 against the pin 17 to hold the mandrel and article support thereon in the loading position.

While the valve 69 of the timer valve 59 is open, air also flows through the pipe 103 to the air motor 104 which rotates the mandrel 15 to drive it at a speed regu lated by thequantity of air flowing through the pipe 105 and exhausting through the control valve 106, the flow of which is adjusted by adjusting the valve member 107 by means of the handle 108 to control the rate of exhaust of air through the mufiler 109.

Simultaneously, when the timer valve 59 is held in the open position, the air flows through the pipe 110, through the flow control 111, through the two-way off-on valve 112 to the upper mandrel cylinder 113. The air pressure in the upper mandrel cylinder 113 causes the piston in the clamping member 115 to move downward to clamp the work between the upper mandrel clamping member 115 and the bracket supported on the mandrel 15.

In Fig. 13, we show a clamping device mounted on the mandrel 15 made up of the swinging arms 119 having a portion 120 connected to the mandrel and having the work engaging mask members 121 thereon. The compression springs 123 urge the arms 119 out of engagement with the article being painted.

'Atomizing air from air supply 40 is at all times supplied to the guns 48a through the connections 49. The flow of air thereto is controlled by the valve 47 as explained above. When the operator actuates the foot valve 74, air flows through the pipe 76 and actuates the piston 78 in the timer valve 59 to move the valve member 69 thereon to the open position. The operator may then remove his foot from the foot control 74 and check valve 81 will move to a closed position, trapping the air in the space 77 above the piston, and air will immediately begin to bleed off through the valve 83 into the atmosphere at a rate determined by the setting thereof. As the pressure in space 77 begins to reduce, the valve member 69 will begin to move to a closed position. The air flows from the valve member 69 through the pipe 101 through the flow control 102 to the air cylinder 113 to move the clamping member 115 to a downward position to engage the work and force the work support 122 downward, causing the sleeve 130 thereof to telescope on member 131 against the force of spring 133. The sleeve 130 is closed at its upper end. Collar 134 being attached to sleeve 130 will carry with it. Arms 119 are swingably mounted on collar 134 at 135. They are bent and have the upwardly extending portion 120. Plate 137 is fixed to mandrel 15 and abuts against arms 119 as they are forced down and causes them to swing about pivot 135 to force masks 121 into sealing engagement with article 140. Cylinder 113 moving mandrel 16 down against the article has the dual eifect of clamping article 140 and forcing masks 121 into sealing engagement with the article to prevent paint from running un der any edge thereof and, thereby, depositing on undesired areas of the work.

During the time that the valve 69 is open, air is flowing therethrough to pipe 91 to actuate the air cylinders of the paint guns to cause them to begin to spray paint upon the article supported on support 122. Air also flows through the air cylinder valve 24 to move the arm 18 out of contact with the pin 17 to allow the mandrel to rotate. Air also flows through the pipe 103 to the air motor 104 to rotate the mandrel. In other words, with the air turned on and the paint guns oscillated by motor 104 and atomizing air established on the paint guns, when the operator actuates the foot switch, the clamping cylinder 113 clamps the article to the support 122 and the motor 104 starts to rotate the mandrel.

2. When air has blown out through the valve 83 and the piston 78 is moved by the spring 80 to bring the valve member 69 to a closed position, the flow of air will be stopped to the air motor 104 to the air cylinder valve 24 to the air cylinder upper mandrel clamp and to the air cylinders on the guns. The motor rotating the man drel will, therefore, stop; the actuating cylinders of the guns will be deactuated, and the masks 121 will move out of engagement with the work. Piston 26 and the air cylinder 24 will be moved to a neutral position to move the mandrel to the loading position.

Fig. 14 is a view of a work support and mask. The work support 200 is shown in cross section and supported on the mandrel 15 while the mask 207 is attached to the upper mandrel 16. The Work support 200 is removable from mandrel 15 by lifting it off the reduced size portion 220. Likewise, the mask 207 is intended to be removable from upper mandrel 16 and connected thereto by a telescope joint with a set screw or some other well known joint. The particular work support 200 shown in Fig. 14 is provided with a cylindrical cavity 202 which is adapted to receive the hub portion 204 of an article 205 to be painted. The work support 200 can be formed with a cavity or other shape to suit the requirement of an individual job, such as the plastic dial of a washing machine. The mask 207 is adapted to be attached to the upper mandrel 16 at 208 and the upper surface 209 of the mask 207 may be provided with suitable openings to admit paint to the area of the article 205.

During operation, the air pressure in the cylinder 113 moves the upper mandrel 16 downward to bring the mask 207 into conformity and into sealing engagement with the article 205. Since constant air pressure is applied thereto, the mask 207 will be urged into sealing engagement with the article 205 and will prevent any leakage of paint around the apertures which may be formed in the mask. The paint guns are directed from above onto the mask 207 and while the part is rotated by means of rotating the mandrel 15 as explained above, the mask 207 will be held in sealing engagement-with the article 205 during the rotation process and paint will be sprayed thereon.

In Fig. 15, we disclose another method of mounting a mask and article to be painted on our novel machine. In this case, the mask 307 is attached to the lower mandrel 15 to rotate therewith and the upper mandrel 16 may have, as in this case, a resilient vacuum cup 300 attached thereto at 320. The article 305 to be painted is preferably loaded in the mask 307 and the paint guns directed on the lower surface 309 of the mask. The mask 307 is removably attached to the lower mandrel 15 at 322. When the machine is started, the upper mandrel 16 will be forced downward by the air cylinder 113 as explained supra. The vacuum cup 300 will engage the article 305 in the mask 307 and urge it into sealing engagement with the mask 307 so that paint sprayed on the mask 307 will be deposited through suitable openings in the mask 307 onto the article 305. The constant force on the article by upper mandrel 16 will force it into sealing engagement with the mask 307 and prevent leakage of paint under the edges of the mask onto areas of the article intended to be masked. When the time cycle of the timer valve 59 in Fig. 12 is completed as explained supra, the upper mandrel 16 will retract, lifting the article 305 with it into a convenient place for unloading. It is obvious that if the vacuum cup 300 were changed to a simple resilient pressure means, the article loaded in the mask 307 would remain in the mask and could be unloaded therefrom manually. This means of operation is desirable in some applications and in some types of articles.

In the foregoing specification, we'have set forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but we are aware that the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An automatic painting machine comprising a mandrel supported for rotation on said machine, a paint gun supported on said machine adjacent said mandrel, a sleeve closed at one end and telescopically disposed on said mandrel, a compression spring between said mandrel and said sleeve urging said sleeve engaging the upper end of said mandrel and the closed end of said sleeve urging said sleeve to extended position thereon, arms swingably connected to said sleeve and extending downwardly, then bent upwardly therefrom, paint masks attached to said arms, a plate attached to said mandrel, said plate engaging a lower part of said arms, means on said sleeve to support an article of manufacture, means to force said article and said sleeve downwardly against the force of said compression spring whereby said arms are urged by said plate to swing said masks carried thereby into engagement with an article adapted to be supported on said means to support an article, means to intermittently rotate said mandrel in predetermined position, and means to position said mandrel during the times between said intermittent rotation.

' 7 1 2. The machine recited in claim 1 wherein said means to position said mandrel comprises a pulley attached to said mandrel, a pin in said pulley spaced from said mandrel and extending parallel to said mandrel, an arm swingably attached to said machine at one end and engaging said pin at an intermediate point, an air cylinder attached .to said machine, and a piston in said air cylinder havinga piston rod attached to said swingable arm, said piston, when actuated, swinging said arm out of engagement with said pin, said means to rotate said mandrel comprising an air motor and air means intermittently actuating said air motor and said piston, and means to urge said arm toward said pin.

3. The machine recited in claim 2 wherein means to compress said compression spring is provided, said compressing means comprising said article and a second air cylinder having a piston and piston rod, and a clamping member attached to the piston rod of said second air cylinder, said clamping member engaging said article when said second air cylinder is actuated, and air means intermittently actuating said second air cylinder whereby said sleeve is forced down and said masks engage said article when said arm is swung away from said pin and said air motor rotates.

4. An automatic paint machine comprising a mandrel pivotally mounted in a frame, an air motor operablyconnected to said mandrel, means on the distal end of said mandrel for supporting an article of manufacture to be painted, a rod pivotally mounted in said frame, a paint gun movably mounted on said machine, said paint gun being connected to said rod and disposed adjacent said mandrel, an air actuated means connected to said rod to oscillate said rod through a predetermined .arc whereby said paint gun is oscillated and paint from said gun .is uniformly distributed, said mandrel having a crank pin, means to :attach said crank pin theretoat a point spaced therefrom, and .means adapted to engage'said crank pin when said mandrel is stopped wherebysaid mandrel is rotated to a predetermined position.

5. The automatic paint machine recited in claim 4 wherein said means to engage said crank pin comprises an arm swingably supported on said frame at one end and engaging said crank pin at the other end and adapted to engage said crank pin to force said crank pin to a predetermined position whereby said mandrel is held in a predetermined position, and air actuatedv means is provided comprising an air cylinder means pivotally connected to said frame and to said arm to move said arm out of engagementwith said crank pin.

6. The .paint machine recited in claim 5 wherein air operated means is provided on said machine to clamp articles on said mandrel, timing means is provided 'to actuate said mandrel, said clamping means, and said arm through said air motor, said air actuating means, and said air cylinder means, respectively. a

7. The paint machine recited in claim 6 wherein said timing means comprises a timer valve having a spring biased piston connected thereto, a cylinder, said piston operable therein with an exhaust valve member attached to said cylinder to control the flow of air from said cylinder, said air supplied to said piston through a control means, said piston being movable by said air from said control means to hold said piston in actuated position, said exhaust valve member allowing said air to exhaust from engagement with said piston, allowing said piston to move to an unactuated position upon stoppage of air through said control means, air being forced through said timer valve to said air motor, said air actuated means, and said air cylinder during the time said air is exhausting from engagement with said piston.

8. Acoatingapparatus comprising a frame, a vertically disposed first mandrel on said frame for rotational movement thereon, an air motor for moving said first mandrel, a sleeve telescopically disposed on said first mandrel and rotatable therewith, a work support secured to the upper end of said sleeve, a pneumatic sprayer positioned in spaced relation to said work support, means supporting saidpneurnatic sprayer on said frame, a spring urging said sleeve upwardly on said first mandrel, said first mandrel being .freely rotatable on said frame and positioned below said work support, fluid pressure actuated means pressing a second mandrel downwardly into engagement with an article adapted to be supported on said work support, arms swingably supported on said sleeve, a mask supported on each of said arms, a stop on said first mandrel adapted to engage said arms when said sleeve is forced downwardly whereby said arms are swung to bring said masks into engagement with said article adapted to be supported on said work support, and a resilient means urging said arms in a direction to bring said masks supported on said arms out of engagement'with said article to be painted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,162,317 Rey June 13, 1939 2,342,375 Shurley Feb. 22, 1944 2,358,258 Schweitzer Sept. 12, 1944 2,426,391 Emerson Aug. 26, 1947 2,700,929 Williams Feb. 1, 1955 

